When you can't be with family on Thanksgiving, it's nice to have great co-workers. For the second year in a row we enjoyed a meal together complete with all the fixins'.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with lots of food, family, and fun!
Amanda
Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Living History Farms
This weekend I ran Living History Farm's seven mile cross country race. I went with my two running pals Heather Yost and Sarah Danik. As you can see we went as flappers. We went all out and ran through the creeks and scaled muddy hills. Some parts were ridiculous but fun! The best part is all the creative and funny costumes. We saw Ken and Barbie (even in boxes), folks dressed up as bananas, Santa and his reindeer, hunters and deer, power rangers and so many others!This is what I learned about the race after running it two years:
1. Plan on getting very dirty and wet (you run through about 6 creeks and some are deep).
2. Knowing how to claw your way up a hill is very helpful if not essential for the race.
3. Don't plan on running it fast, there's way to many people and a lot of time you feel like cattle being herded.
4. Don't be shocked if you see folks in inappropriate but funny costumes.
5. Expect to be cold.
6. Its always a blast no matter what the conditions are!
Monday, November 8, 2010
My Nephew's Story
I've debated on how to write this blog entry because it’s a topic so personal to me.Saturday night, just before midnight, my sweet little eight week old nephew Barron Christian Battles passed away. He died peacefully in my sister Magdalena's arms and next to his dear dad Justin.
Barron was born a beautiful healthy baby boy with blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was the sweetest, so content and you could tell he just absorbed everything around him. It wasn't until he was four weeks old that his health started deteriorating and he was transferred to a Marshfield hospital where they started testing him for everything. It was discovered he had a genetic disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type One. SMA is actually not that uncommon, but, there are varying degrees and Barron had the worst kind. Some studies say one in sixty people are carriers of the SMA gene. Usually for a child to get it both the mother and father have to be carriers. There is no cure for SMA and the earlier the onset the shorter the life expectancy. Some people show symptoms as adults and live normal lives, others like Barron only live weeks. Here's more information about it: http://www.smafoundation.org/
My sister and her husband are experiencing the unimaginable, having to bury their first child. To go from thinking you have a perfectly healthy baby then weeks later holding your baby while he takes his last breaths…it makes me cry thinking about it. I could go into all the stories of heartbreak through all of this like when Magdalena, Justin and Barron were at a hotel in Minneapolis and Barron went into full cardiac arrest. Justin had to perform CPR on his six-week old baby until paramedics arrived. He saved his life. There has been so much joy though too. Justin and Magdalena would play, sing and read to Barron all day and get huge smiles from him. You could tell he just adored his mother and father.
Through this whole process we are so thankful for the amazing medical teams at Marshfield Hospital, Minneapolis Children's Hospital, the services Caring Bridge and the Ronald McDonald House and all the support of friends and family.
Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com
Friday, November 5, 2010
Have you seen these holiday cards?
They are designed by Iowa children with cancer. The Children's Cancer Connection sells them during the holidays to raise money for their organization which helps children and families affected by cancer by providing programs for education, recreation, and support. It's a fantastic group!
What a wonderful, unique idea for your Holiday cards this year!
Click on the links in this blog to learn more about how to purchase the cards and where your money will go.
Amanda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)